After the fighting at the front stopped for a while, Zhou Jun led the remaining troops and entered Fan Yang.
A messenger from the army came to report that Guo Ziyi was leading the majority of the Chinese army and was besieging the inner city of Fanyang. Li Guangbi led the left wing army from the streets in the city to the northern end of Fanyang City to surround the enemy and support most of the enemy.
As for Li Siye, he took the artillery and craftsmen from the Anxi army and prepared one hundred and twenty tiger squat cannons, ready to storm the inner city of Fanyang at any time.
Zhou Jun rode his horse on the long street and glanced around. In the Tang Dynasty, Fan Yang was Zhuozhou in later generations.
This famous fortified city in the history of Hebei Province is structured as a city within a city, like a man's belt. There is a gate in the middle, named "Tonghui", with three pillars on the top, a bell on the left and a drum on the right.
The whole city is crowded with people every market day, including Han Chinese, Hu people, etc., especially during festivals, it is even more crowded.
There are hotels, restaurants, inns, cloth shops, tea shops and other businesses on both sides of the street. People and cars come and go, and it is very lively.
But now, the months-long war has caused the entire city to become depressed.
Many of the courtyard walls on both sides of the long street were dismantled and used for city defense; the trees, flowers and plants along the street were also cut down and used by residents to make fires.
The gunpowder smoke in the distance has not yet dissipated, and the loud shouts of killing can be heard faintly.
Zhou Jun wanted to ride his horse and continue forward, but Wang Hong, the leader of the personal troops, advised: "My lord, the battle ahead is fierce. For the sake of safety, it is better to go back for the time being."
Zhou Jun shook his head and said, "I want to go to the inner city."
Seeing that his persuasion was ineffective, Wang Hong summoned his own soldiers and soldiers to guard Zhou Jun, and slowly walked towards the inner street.
While riding through the inland river in Fanyang City, Zhou Jun saw corpses floating in the river. Judging from their attire, they looked more like common people than soldiers.
Seeing this, Zhou Jun said to Wang Hong in a deep voice: "Before the war started, I gave an order to the army not to harm the people after the city was broken. Is it possible that someone turned a deaf ear to my words?"
Wang Hong said doubtfully: "My lord, you have issued a death order. Logically speaking, the generals in the army dare not violate it. Besides, every army that goes to war is followed by officials, so how can they dare to act recklessly?
?”
Zhou Jun was also surprised. He walked a little further and was startled by the scene he saw in front of him.
I saw many people hanging themselves in high places on the streets of Fanyang City, whether it was hanging beams or gate towers. Seen from a distance, there were hundreds of corpses, swaying gently in the wind, like a ghostly place.
It makes one's scalp numb.
Some people committed suicide by jumping into the river, and some hung themselves from the beam. Zhou Jun was shocked and asked: "What's going on?!"
The soldiers and soldiers looked at each other in confusion, and no one could answer.
Seeing people walking in the streets in the distance, Zhou Jun ordered the soldiers beside him: "Go and bring those people over to me!"
Wang Hong took the order and left. Not long after, several common people dressed as scholars were brought to Zhou Jun.
Seeing that the leader was a young man, only in his early twenties, Zhou Jun asked, "What's your name?"
The young man held his head high, and without looking at Zhou Jun, he hummed: "A certain person is Zan Yin of Dayan Taichang Temple, and so is Xu Fanghai!"
When Wang Hong heard this, he hit Xu Fanghai on the knee with his scabbard, forcing him to kneel down, and shouted: "Arrogant person! The person in front of you is the commander-in-chief of the Tang Army, kneel down!"
Zhou Jun waved his hand, not paying attention.
Zan Yin from Taichang Temple was a third-class official from outside. When Zhou Jun looked at the young man in front of him, he was reminded of his past days.
Although Xu Fanghai was kneeling on the ground, his face was full of dissatisfaction, and he said loudly: "A certain person came here to seek death! If you dare, just kill me with one knife. It would be better for me to hang myself everywhere!"
Zhou Jun heard this and asked: "You are still young and have a long way to go. Why do you want to commit suicide?"
Xu Fanghai glanced sideways at Zhou Jun and said angrily: "If you want me to return to the Tang Dynasty, I would rather die in Fan Yang now!"
Zhou Jun: "The Tang Dynasty is the orthodoxy of the world, and the Yan Dynasty is just a puppet dynasty. Now that the Tang army has recovered Fan Yang, you should be grateful."
Xu Fanghai frowned and said: "The Tang Dynasty is decayed, the officialdom is ignorant, and talented people are not reused. I think that all members of the Xu family were originally good people in Guanzhong. My father is engaged in business, and the younger members of the family cannot take the imperial examination to become officials. My father is forced to have no choice.
, you can only pass me on to your uncle's family, and then you can qualify for the imperial examination."
"Xu studied hard for ten years and passed the county examination, government examination, and college examination. However, when it came to the township examination, the children of a well-off family could be ranked first in high school without much effort, and they could be replaced by us.
A child from a poor family failed the test for three consecutive years. After some inquiry, it was found that there was only one way for a child from a poor family to get on the list, and that was to become a member of the family and become a retainer, aide, etc. Only then could he possibly enter the officialdom!
"
"Fang Hai saw through the imperial examination and dragged his family to Hebei. Although Fan Yang was in power as a Hu, he treated our officials with sincerity. Regardless of examination or admission, they were not judged by family, but only by ability. Xu
I don’t need to worship the nobles, let alone sell my integrity against my will. I was recommended by the imperial examination, and I got the job of praise, how can I teach my heart to the Tang Dynasty!"
After Zhou Jun heard this, he sighed slightly.
He couldn't help but think of the Zhou family's situation.
The eldest brother Zhou Ze had no choice but to be inherited by his father Zhou Dinghai to his uncle's family because of the family slave's business. Later, because the Zhou family became more powerful, the household registration was re-merged.
Zhou Ze's road to the imperial examination was also bumpy. If Zhou Dinghai hadn't tried his best to send him to a famous school, and if Zhou Jun hadn't built momentum with his writing, he might not have had a chance to have an official career.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jun said to Xu Fanghai: "How can a person talk about life and death lightly for only one lifetime? No one can tell clearly about the days to come."
After saying that, Zhou Jun took a waist badge from Wang Hong, threw it to Xu Fanghai, and said: "Take this, bring your colleagues and fellow countrymen, and just come to Liangzhou Prefecture to have a look."
Xu Fanghai caught the waist card and was a little dazed.
Zhou Jun shook his head and rode away.
In front of the gate of Fanyang's inner city, Guo Ziyi led 12,000 Tang troops and surrounded the entire inner city.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! When Zhou Jun arrived, the Tang army and the Yan army were fighting fiercely around a watchtower outside the inner city.
There were only 240 Yan troops in the watchtower. They were isolated and helpless, and relied on the narrow corridor leading to the watchtower platform to hinder the progress of the Tang army.
There were heavy infantry in Shuofang's army, and they formed a formation and rushed into the corridor. The shouts of killing suddenly rang out.
Zhou Jun watched carefully from a distance, and the battle situation in the watchtower became intense as soon as the fighting started.
The soldiers from Shuofang and the old soldiers from Hebei were both elites in the border army. Their combat power was evenly matched, and they were both generally brave in fighting.
I saw the heavy infantry of Shuofang Army relying on their large shields, working in tacit cooperation, and having a clear division of labor. While resisting the spears and stones thrown by the Hebei Army, they attacked towards the top of the watchtower.
The Shuofang army's crossbowmen hiding behind the large shield took advantage of the gaps in the shield to kill the enemy soldiers on the watchtower one by one, with almost no miss.
Just when Zhou Jun thought that the Shuofang Army team under Guo Ziyi would be able to capture the watchtower soon, something strange suddenly occurred.
Several Hebei soldiers holding fire oil cans, ignored the incoming crossbow arrows and slashed swords, and crashed directly into Shuofang's shield formation.
Accompanied by the roar of several "big swallows", fire rose into the sky and engulfed the entire building in an instant.
Glancing at Guo Ziyi, who looked solemn beside him, Zhou Jun said: "The traitor An is dead, and the fake Yan has lost its way, but the soldiers of Hebei are not afraid of death and are loyal... If the reason is only attributed to the Yan army's strict military discipline, I am afraid it is
It’s unjustifiable.”
Guo Ziyi looked thoughtful and remained silent.
Li Siye, who was on the side and brought the artillery team from Anxi, couldn't help but feel itchy when he saw this. He just wanted to test the artillery, so he said to Zhou Jun: "Commander, I am willing to be the forward!"
Zhou Jun shook his head at Li Siye, and then said to Wang Hong: "Let someone shout to the inner city and say that I want to talk to the general in the city."
Wang Hong bowed in response.
Half a quarter of an hour later, a Yan army general who was covered in wounds was helped up the tower.
Zhou Jun took a closer look and found that this person was actually Cai Xide, the general of the Yan Army.
The latter narrowly escaped the explosion, but one of his arms was severed, half of his face was bloody and bloody, and even his chin was no longer in shape.
With the support of his own soldiers, he stood at the top of the city and looked towards the Tang army.
Zhou Jun was riding on a horse, guarded by a group of soldiers, and shouted to Cai Xide: "This is Zhou Jun, the Marshal of the Tang Dynasty."
Cai Xide nodded when he heard this. Since he could not speak loudly, he could only whisper a few words to the soldiers beside him.
The soldier shouted loudly: "I have heard about the reputation of the commander-in-chief. If you are here to persuade me to surrender today, you should save your words. Sid is a general of Great Yan, and he has already decided to live and die with Fan Yang!"
Zhou Jun: "When I entered the city, I saw that the people in the city were grateful for the general's righteousness, and they all said they were willing to die."
Hearing Zhou Jun mention the people in Fanyang City, Cai Xide was stunned for a moment, then closed his eyes in pain.
Fanyang City has been besieged for several months. If the people in the city had not destroyed their homes and rescued them, they would have been unable to hold on long ago.
Cai Xide saw it in his eyes and remembered it in his heart. Now when he heard Zhou Jun talk about it, he was filled with emotion.
Zhou Jun: "Among the soldiers and people in Fanyang City, is General Cai going to drag all of them to death for the sake of his own loyalty?"
Cai Xide remained silent.
Zhou Jun: "If General Cai is willing to open the city and surrender, Jun is willing to swear to the ancestors of the Zhou family to do the following three things: first, he will not commit any crime against the people in the city; second, he will never kill the officers and soldiers in the city; third, he will never kill the people in the city.
All the family members of high-ranking officials in Fanyang City can stay and go as they please. If someone wants to go south to find relatives, Jun can also send troops to escort them."
After hearing these three items, Cai Xide was shocked.
The first two are normal, but the key is the third.
There are a large number of family members of Yan officials in Fanyang City, including Shi Siming's wife and children, and An Qingxu's brothers.
If anything happens to any of these people, Cai Xide will not be able to take the blame even if he dies a hundred times.
But now, Zhou Jun is actually willing to let these criminals go, and even promised to send troops to escort them south to find relatives, which makes Cai Xide a little confused.
In order to prevent himself from hearing wrongly, Cai Xide asked his soldiers to shout again and confirmed it with Zhou Jun.
Zhou Jun repeated his promise again, and at the end, he said to Cai Xide: "If the thunder that hit the west gate wall today were to hit the inner city again, I am afraid that all the people in the city would be devastated. God has the virtue of good life, and so do I.
Out of love for the virtuous, I hope that General Cai will surrender and not commit any sin again."
The gunpowder in Zhou Jun's hand was running low, and it was actually no longer enough to blow up the inner city.
But Cai Xide didn't know the details. When he heard these words, he just remembered the explosion he had just experienced. When he said "Sky Thunder" in his heart, he was both nervous and afraid.
After half an hour of discussion and thinking, Cai Xide finally decided to open the inner city and formally surrender.
At this point, Fanyang City, the headquarters of the Yan Army and the birthplace of the Anshi Rebellion, was defeated by Zhou Jun and incorporated into the territory of the Northern Tang Dynasty.
This chapter has been completed!